I began fly fishing about 20 years ago in Texas. For the first few years I fished with flies that were given to me. I decided to try tying my own after watching others tie. I learned a lot by trial and many errors, but I was fortunate to be able to learn from some master fly tyers in the north Texas area. I passed the Silver Tyer level of the International Federation of Fly-fishers (IFF) a few years ago and might start working on the gold level one of these days.

When I retired my wife and I moved to Olympia. We are enjoying getting to know the area and discovering new fishing spots. These days I spend as much time in front of my fly tying vise as I do fishing, but I hope to change that in this new year.

Randy has been a member of South Sound Fly Fishers since moving to Olympia in 2002. He enjoys teaching casting to beginners. He loves to see it come together when students competently cast and catch their first fish on a fly. If they built the rod and tied the fly it’s even more rewarding!

I have a passion for fly fishing and fly tying. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and skills with those new to the sport. Some of my favorite places to fish are: South Puget Sound; Hood Canal; Yakima River; Madison River (inside Yellowstone Park); Lake Chopaka; Ascension Bay, Mexico; and Dry Falls Lake.

I’m a member of the South Sound Fly Fishing club in Olympia, WA and I’m currently serving as their Treasurer. I’m also a long time member and past President of the Puget Sound Fly Fishers club in Tacoma, WA (winner of the Fly Fishers Iingernational’s (FFI) 2008 McKenzie Cup). I am a life member of FFI. I’m currently serving on their Board of Directors as their Treasurer. I was honored to receive the FFI’s Fly Fisher of the Year award in August 2017. I’m obsessed with fly tying and have been teaching and demonstrating fly tying for over 20 years. I’m a charter member of the FFI’s Fly Tying Group. I have been actively involved with the Washington State Council of the FFI for over 25 years and have served as their VP of Communications; Senior Advisor; Treasurer; Secretary; Director at Large and as a National Director.

Secretary position is currently vacant.

Kevin describes himself as a “self-inflicted” fly fisher starting in the late 1970s in Colorado. Kevin began his fly fishing journey with little equipment when an aging customer, also a fly fisher, befriended Kevin. Upon the customer’s passing the family contacted Kevin because the deceased had written Kevin into his will.

The surviving family offered Kevin a lot of his buddy’s fly-fishing gear. Kevin offered to take a fly box here, some flies there, but he didn’t want to appear greedy. No. The family tells him that they are all lazy, and no one had any interest in learning the sport; they insisted he take it all. Eight boxes of vises, fly tying gear, books, including a bamboo rod.

Knowing Kevin was really hooked, his thoughtful wife, Cynthia, enrolled him in a fly fishing class where he learned some casting, knots, fly presentation. . . and Kevin immediately caught a bunch of trout!

From his next home in New Mexico fly fishing waters were a minimum 2 ½ hours drive one-way. And he made those drives, and he caught big-big trout. He expanded his interest to include restoring Comanche Creek, working 1,200 labor hours over 10 years. Originally the Creek presented a fisher with Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout a mere five-to-six inches. Years later Kevin was catching 14 inchers!

He’s had numerous days of 50-plus fish. But, his current focus is on quality – quality of the experience, camaraderie, and the fun of the day. On his recent trip to our Kennedy Creek he caught the little 6‑inchers with (very nearly) the same excitement as when he describes catching 20‑plus inch trout. It’s all wonderful.

And you can thank Kevin for the litter he removes to make our fishing worlds a little nicer – a great example of a fly fisher who sees a bigger picture than numbers of fish caught.

I grew up fly fishing with my dad on the alpine lakes of Mt. Hood, Oregon and have been trying to improve ever since. I recently retired from the Army after 20 years in Special Operations Aviation and have found a lot of free time to work on my cast! The past 5 years I have been involved with a few veteran organizations which focus on getting service members out on the water and learning all styles of fishing. I enjoy the relaxation of drifting down a river, and I always have extra fly rods on my boat! Most of the time I find that veterans learning how to fish prefer to Fly Cast over other methods. I am a graduate of the Gallatin River Fly Fishing Guide School in Montana and love taking trips to catch and release on the Yellowstone, Gallatin, and Madison rivers.

I grew up fishing in Montana with my father who was a fly fisher and flytier. After school and work interrupted my fishing I was able to return to more outdoor pursuits as I aged and eventually retired. I am excited about my role as conservation director

Our Newsletter Editor for 2022 is Bruce Baker.

Bruce began fly fishing in his home New Jersey. While attending grad school at Humboldt State University he took advantage of some casting classes to improve his techniques. This led to some great Sierra trout streams and all over the Olympic Peninsula.. He mostly enjoys Alpine lake fishing. But don’t let that fool you – his family in Florida will attest to Bruce fishing their southern salt water.

Vic Andrade moved from the Midwest to Washington in 2016 after retiring from a career in IT. He joined the SSFF after taking the Introduction to Fly Fishing Class in 2019. He uses his experience in maintaining his blog about his cross country bicycling adventures to maintain the club’s website and Facebook page.